I explored Malad (East) this morning. Its a small quiet place with a lot of undulating landscape. Even this part of town was unsurprisingly active in the morning. I had been put up at our Company Guest House in Upper Govind Nagar, near Dindoshi Flyover. The area has a high concentration of temples. Somewhere in between, I was also able to spot all other necessary shops, including an air-conditioned hair salon, a videogame parlour, but not a cybercafe !

Today was my first day at work in Mumbai. If I go back 12yrs in time, I don't remember having ever imagined that I'd be someday working in Mumbai. Taking the Local Train all dressed up in formals 'n' leather shoes and getting squeezed to a pulp from all the directions. Am kinda fortunate that I don't have to experience all that.. I took the Company bus to work this morning. Its a door-to-door service and makes life a hell lot easier in fast-paced Mumbai.

The ride to work was fantastic - my companion was Bene - an AIESEC trainee from Kenya. Bene is from the Egerton University in Nakuru Province. He surprised me with his expertise with colloquial Hindi and even better, colloquial Tamil ! Bene had spent sometime at my Company's office in Chennai as well. It was a pity we never met there. We shared the same affection for Chennai. And he had me in splits with his experience of travelling in Chennai's public transport - people mistook him as Tamilian and would start chattering rightaway..

We discussed each other's culture, the language, the social setup and ofcourse, leading a bachelor's life. He taught me to wish 'Habari' in Swahili, to which you'd ideally get the reply 'Mzuri'. Better still, he recommends, is to use the 'Jambo' greeting.

Somewhere along the route, the discussion deviated to the Ramayana and Bene discussed the Brahmastra. I was stunned. He knew a lot. And I listened. He had watched every episode of the Ramayana which was telecast in Kenya with English subtitles. I knew less about Indian mythology than him ! He'd also watched some Amitabh Bachchan movies i Nigeria. And had bored himself to death with Rajnikant movies that were consistently telecast on Chennai's movie channels !

Later, in the evening, I was introduced to Kenyan nomenclature. Bene's last name is Thiga - which is his paternal Grandfather's name. His younger brother has a last name that comes from his maternal Grandfather. I've forgotten what the third brother's last name would logically be. But it was pretty straightforward. The sisters took their last names from the Grandmas ! Kinda neat, me thinks.

Work was fun. I report to two Mumbai-bred Tamilians, Chennai-roots. I think I'm going to love my time here.